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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30101199">What happens off world, doesn't stay off world</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ani272/pseuds/Ani272'>Ani272</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Stargate Atlantis</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>69 (Sex Position), Alternate Universe, Angst, Blow Jobs, Dubious Consent, Emotions, First Time, Hand Jobs, Happy Ending, Hurt John, M/M, Masturbation, Mission Fic, Mutual Pining, Trapped, Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 23:02:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>14,543</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30101199</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ani272/pseuds/Ani272</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A trip to an Ancient facility goes horribly wrong when the natives take offense. Mayhem ensues, including a long chase through the snow, injuries to many of the party, Rodney being tired but stoic, losing some team members for a while, a few personal interludes here and there, and eventually a happy ending.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Evan Lorne/John Sheppard</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>What happens off world, doesn't stay off world</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Set in an AU where John is capable of talking about his emotions, Rodney is a little more aware of the feelings of those around him, and a river running through snow country is really cold, but not life-threateningly debilitating in its own right.<br/>With many thanks to Salchat for her words of support and wisdom, and all her suggestions for improvement.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Run!” Colonel Sheppard shouted, and so they ran. </p>
<p>They ran through the snow, slogging their way through the drifts, and it was very hard going. Luckily, the snow was impeding the natives as well, although they were still gaining, benefiting from the furrows created by the eight Lanteans as they fled in the direction of the stargate.</p>
<p>Ronon and Teyla had point, with Dr McKay and Major Lorne’s marines in the middle – Coughlin and Reed supporting Rivers, who had taken several nasty blows from the native cudgels and wasn’t doing so well. They were trailed by Lorne and Sheppard, keeping an eye out from the rear.</p>
<p>The natives were closing again, and suddenly Ronon went to ground, the others all following him to drop behind a rocky outcrop. They had been running through a broad canyon, and this sanctuary was a blessing. </p>
<p>Ronon’s gun was busy, stunning as many of the natives as he could see. The rest brought up their P-90s and sprayed bullets over the top of the crowd of sixty or more men who had been chasing them. Sheppard had already given orders not to wound, just to try and scare them off. It was a tactic that worked in short bursts, causing the natives to fall back for a while and giving the Lanteans a little breathing room, but it didn’t last. Within ten minutes or so, they’d be back, and the pursuit would start again. Although each time there were fewer, as Ronon’s stun victims stayed unconscious on the ground.</p>
<p>While this was going on, Rodney had collapsed down onto a rock, his breathing laboured. “This is ridiculous,” he panted. He would have used his snarky tone, but he was very out of breath. “All this running and for what? A stupid religion that says we shouldn’t have been in their stupid temple! Temple! A perfectly preserved Ancient outpost full of all sorts of gadgets, and the locals lose their tempers over it!” His breathing was starting to slow, but so were the bullets. He knew they’d be up again in a moment, to carry on the slog towards the ‘gate, and shortly after that, Sheppard would spot the bloody locals on their tail again and he’d be hollering <em>‘Run’</em>. Rodney was sick of running.</p>
<p>Just as he thought that, Teyla slipped past him, followed a second later by Ronon, then the marines were lifting Corporal Rivers to his feet, and Rodney clambered back up and started following, trying to keep up as best he could. He knew Lorne and Sheppard would stay behind him, but he didn’t want to be the one that caused the group to straggle out. His breathing finally back under control, he put on a burst of speed to catch up to the marines.</p>
<p>The Ancient outpost had been a good five or six hours from the gate, and they’d only been inside it for an hour or so when the natives had first appeared.</p>
<p>The natives had been incensed to find their temple had been overrun by strangers, it was clearly seen as a sacrilege, and they’d started beating the man closest to them. Sheppard had responded immediately, firing his P90 into the air to get their attention, but Ronon had simply raised his gun and stunned the two guys doing the worst damage. </p>
<p>Then, as the remaining natives – and there must have been over a hundred of them crowding into the clearing by then – started closing in, Sheppard shouted for them all to retreat. And they had. But that had been over three hours ago, and they were still a good couple of hours from the gate. Running through the thick snow on the way back, wasn’t a whole lot quicker than walking over the morning’s light frosting of snow had been.</p>
<p>The sky was ominously dark as they lumbered their way through the snow, going as fast as they could. They ran again and paused to shoot, then ran and paused to shoot a few more times before they reached the bridge - and bridge was a generous description. McKay had had a lot to say about this bridge when they first encountered it. The river was about ten metres wide at this point, and flowed quickly beneath. There were jagged rocks sticking up here and there, and it narrowed about fifty metres downstream as it passed between two cliff edges, disappearing from view in a flurry of white water.  </p>
<p>The bridge itself was actually a tree trunk. No flattened surface to walk on, no nice safety rails, just a round, wet, tree trunk. Rodney came around the bend in the path, realised where they were, and gave the bridge his best stink-eye.  “No, no, no, no, no,” he flustered, as he arrived at the start of the bridge. “It took me fifteen minutes to get across it this morning. I can’t run across this!” He turned his head to look back up the trail. They’d fought the natives back again only about five minutes ago, and they would be reappearing at any moment. </p>
<p>Ronon and Teyla were already more than halfway across, and the marines had picked Corporal Rivers up, slung him between them, and were starting their journey, going slowly and carefully. Behind him, Rodney could see Sheppard and Lorne, their P-90s held up, scanning their backtrail. He inched forward, and decided that straddling the trunk and shuffling forward was actually going to be his quickest way across. So he sat down, threw his legs to either side, and began.</p>
<p>Ronon and Teyla were across now, their weapons pointed back down the trail to where the natives would soon appear. The marines were making good, careful progress and were about three-quarters of the way now. Every so often, someone’s foot would slide, and there would be a sudden jerk to stay on the log, and then the forward momentum would begin again. Rodney closed his eyes and shuffled and shuffled and shuffled.</p>
<p>He heard the gun fire start up just as he made it across. Clambering to his feet, he could see that Lorne and Sheppard were still on the far side, firing back along the path, trying to slow the natives down. Then Sheppard ordered Lorne to cross the bridge, and a moment later he was following, relying on Ronon, Teyla, Coughlin and Reed to keep the natives back. As they were approaching the middle of the bridge, one of the natives managed to get close enough to throw his cudgel, and it slammed into Sheppard, causing him to pitch forward into Lorne. The force of the blow totally unbalanced them both, and they slid unceremoniously off the tree trunk and splashed heavily into the river. Within moments they were more than fifteen metres away, the water moving swiftly, buffeting the men off the rocks and carrying them away.</p>
<p>Rodney gasped in horror when he saw them fall, then watched helplessly as the CO and XO of Atlantis base were propelled through the narrow gap between the cliffs fifty metres downstream, and disappeared from sight.</p>
<p>Everyone was still firing, and the natives finally backed off, leaving their fallen where they lay, as had been their habit. Clearly, they weren’t concerned about leaving their people lying unconscious in the cold snow. Watching to make sure they were truly moving back, they saw a splinter group pull off to the right and head downstream, no doubt hoping to catch the Colonel and Major at some spot further down the river.</p>
<p>Sergeant Coughlin was the one who called it. “Move out,” he said, reaching for Corporal Rivers and pulling him up again, Corporal Reed on his other side. “Ronon, take point, Teyla you’re on our six.” </p>
<p>“Going after Sheppard,” Ronon said, and disappeared at a run, breaking through the snow to the right and heading downstream at his best pace.</p>
<p>Coughlin gazed after him for a moment, then turned and carried on along the path, calling over his shoulder, “Dr McKay do you want to take point, or help with Rivers?” </p>
<p>“Aren’t we all going with Ronon?” McKay asked, stumbling after the marines. </p>
<p>It was Teyla who answered, her voice outwardly calm, but her distress clearly evident. “Rodney, we cannot know how far they have been carried, or what condition they are in. We have Corporal Rivers injured, a group of hostiles chasing us, and we are still more than an hour from the stargate. The best thing we can do is to seek help from Atlantis. They can bring through puddle jumpers and search for the Colonel and the Major. We would be unable to carry so many injured, even if we did find them now.” She was shuffling him up the path as she spoke, keeping one eye over her shoulder for the moment when their pursuers, having crossed the bridge, would rejoin the fight.</p>
<p>Rodney looked distressed, his head turning repeatedly downstream to where his team leader had disappeared.</p>
<p>“McKay?” called Coughlin. “Point or Rivers?”</p>
<p>Rodney stumbled a few more steps, still gazing forlornly in the direction Ronon had gone. Then he turned resolutely forward and said, “I’ll take point,” and forced himself to hurry ahead and start breaking a path through the snow. It didn’t really help the marines much as they were three-abreast, Corporal Rivers stumbling along between them, but Rodney consoled himself with the thought that the path he was blazing would at least mean that Rivers had an easier time of it. It had been horrible watching the Corporal being bludgeoned with the cudgels - dreadful sound as the solid chunks of wood met flesh. Rodney shuddered and kept plowing forward.</p>
<p>A few minutes later, Teyla shouted “Run” and Rodney sighed and increased his pace as best he could. And so it continued.</p>
<p>Snow had begun to fall, and as it became thicker, the journey became that much harder. Rodney could scarcely see ahead, and he wasn’t confident they were still on the path. Also, it was much colder, the snow managing to drip down inside his snow jacket somehow, his gloves, left behind at the Ancient facility in their hurry to get away, meant his hands were freezing.</p>
<p>Fifteen minutes since they’d done the last “fire but don’t injure” session, it appeared that the natives might have given up the chase – there was no sign of them coming up behind them. Then again, the snow was so thick now, they could be almost within touching distance and they wouldn’t know. </p>
<p>Rodney stumbled and fell against a rocky surface. They were up against a cliff here, and a couple of metres along, he saw a darker patch on the cliff wall. Moving forward he realised it was a cave. His heart rose. A cave! A place out of the snow. Maybe they could actually get warm here, rest for a while if the natives truly had given up.</p>
<p>He led the way inside, pleased when Coughlin and Reed dragged Rivers in and Teyla following suit.</p>
<p>“I can see no sign of them,” Teyla reported, but stayed on guard at the cave entrance.</p>
<p>The two marines carefully helped Rivers to the ground, their breathing laboured. Even as fit as they were, supporting an injured teammate through thick snow, having to run and plough your own furrows, whilst supporting someone else’s weight, was no picnic, and whilst they’d originally shared that duty with Sheppard and Lorne, they’d still been going at it for well over four hours. Coughlin shook his head to clear it, then did a quick survey of the interior of the cave. It was roughly eight metres deep and about the same across at its widest point. The opening was only a couple of metres wide, if that, so it formed a sort of bowl shape.</p>
<p>Turning back to the entrance, he said, “Reed, see to Rivers. McKay, you’re with me,” and then he was heading to the front of the cave. Rodney followed, groaning slightly as his muscles protested moving again after having stopped.</p>
<p>Coughlin stood in the entrance for a moment looking out, then turned to McKay and said, “We need to carry our trail on a bit further, so they don’t come straight to the cave.” Rodney gazed at him, his whole body aching, and wished that the marine wasn’t such a fine tactician. </p>
<p>“I will come with you, Sergeant,” Teyla said, eyeing Rodney with concern, but Coughlin shook his head. “You’re too light, Teyla. We need it to look as if we all carried straight on. And I need you here anyway, to protect Rivers.”</p>
<p>Teyla nodded, and gave Rodney a supportive smile. “You can do this, Rodney. You are stronger than you think.”</p>
<p>Rodney nodded mournfully and, feet dragging only a little, he followed Coughlin out of the cave and tromped beside him as they created a fake trail for anyone following them. </p>
<p>After about ten minutes, Coughlin stopped. “There’s another cave up there,” he said, pointing a little way ahead. They carried on for another minute or so, and then turned into the cave. “Okay, this will do,” he said, and turned to go back. He gazed carefully at the path they had forged through the snow, but already, their footprints had been obliterated by the snow that continued to fall.</p>
<p>“Oh, this is good,” he said, his voice more cheerful than it had been for a while. </p>
<p>“What is?” Rodney asked dejectedly. He was so exhausted. </p>
<p>“The snow is wiping out our footprints, so we can walk forwards going back to the others. I was afraid we’d have to walk backwards.” Coughlin grinned at Rodney, and Rodney couldn’t tell if he was joking or serious.</p>
<p>“Come on then,” and so they made their way back. It still took them ten minutes, as Coughlin insisted on them widening their track so it looked like the three-abreast trail that would have led to the first cave, and Rodney just nodded and tromped, his whole body sagging from the physical demands of the day.</p>
<p>Finally, they were back at the cave, Teyla smiling warmly at him as they entered, and Rodney flopped to the ground, lying there panting. </p>
<p>Visibility was down to only about a couple of metres now, but Teyla still stood guard at the entrance as Coughlin checked in with Reed about Rivers’ condition. The cold was so intense that Reed hadn’t stripped Rivers off, he’d just unzipped and unbuttoned a little, running his hands inside. There was some blood – Rivers hadn’t been wearing his parka when he was attacked, just his BDU top. None of them had been, as the Ancient outpost had been in a sheltered canyon where it was reasonably warm, and they’d all stripped off their jackets, carefully re-donning their tac vests while they explored. But they’d grabbed the parkas up as they had started to run, knowing it would be a lot colder on the way back, and put them on at the first stop, once the natives had backed off. Now, Rivers was all rugged up again and Reed gave his sitrep. “He’s definitely got some broken ribs – but none have broken the skin. He’s right arm’s broken and I’ve splinted it as best I can, and he’s got a god-awful bump on his head, but his eyes seem to be evenly dilated.”</p>
<p>Coughlin sat back on his heels and thought. Visibility was so poor now, it would be possible to completely miss the stargate, and night would be falling very soon as well. The natives did not appear to be pursuing them anymore, maybe dissuaded from continuing their vendetta by the weather. And it was bloody hard work lugging Rivers around. It would be best to camp here for the night, cold as it was, and move out in the morning, when he and Reed would be rested and better able to assist Rivers, and the light of day might help them to more easily locate the stargate. He spared a thought for his CO and 2IC, but there was nothing he could do for them now. Atlantis would need to send a search and rescue party through.</p>
<p>That decided, he rose and walked back towards Teyla. But just at that moment she spun around, raising her fingers to her lips, her eyes wide. She took a couple of steps backwards, away from the entrance to the cave, and everyone froze. Then they heard it, a low babble of voices, weirdly muted by the snow falling. The natives passed by the cave in a long row, three-abreast. The Lanteans stayed frozen, no one moving, no one talking, barely even breathing, as the enemy passed them by.</p>
<p>As the last of the natives disappeared from view, Coughlin moved very carefully forward to stand with Teyla. He bent and whispered in her ear, “The track McKay and I made goes for another ten minutes, and ends at a cave. They might come back. Stay alert.” </p>
<p>Teyla nodded and moved forward again, to the very front of the cave, her posture watchful.</p>
<p>Coughlin went across to McKay and knelt down to whisper the same message, “Stay down, stay quiet,” he said, “but be ready to fire if they find us. And shoot to kill this time. We’ve reached the point that it’s them or us, Dr McKay.” Rodney gulped and nodded, staying uncharacteristically silent – being pursued by Neanderthals with cudgels had put something of a dent in his normal habit of sharing every single one of his thoughts out loud, not to mention the freezing conditions.</p>
<p>Reed had moved Rivers a little, so he was propped up in a corner of the cave, his injured arm across his body, his head resting on a spare t-shirt from his pack. “I thought it’d make his breathing easier, Sir, to be upright,” Reed whispered as Coughlin approached. </p>
<p>Coughlin nodded in approval, then whispered, “Come wait at the front of the cave, if they’re coming back, it won’t be long now.” </p>
<p>Fifteen cold and lonely minutes later, Teyla signalled that she heard something, and the three of them stepped back a little from the entrance, trying to stay out of sight, but still where they’d be able to open fire if necessary. But it wasn’t. The natives filed past them, their heads down, looking dispirited, and a few minutes later, the whole group had disappeared from view.</p>
<p>Coughlin sighed, dropped his P-90 back down, and bent his neck from side to side, stretching it out. </p>
<p>They stood waiting in the entry way for another ten minutes, but there was no further movement, nothing more stirred. The snow continued to fall and the world was blanketed, sounds muted.</p>
<p>Eventually Coughlin signalled them to fall back. Rodney had moved to sit along the wall near Rivers, thinking that if the injured man cried out for any reason, he’d need to be close enough to muffle the sound. But Rivers had stayed silent. In fact, the injured marine hadn’t said a word since the beating. He was clearly conscious, but also clearly drowsy and only half-aware, his eyes opening and closing slowly, and his head occasionally lolling forward.</p>
<p>The others came over and hunkered down by Rivers and Rodney. “Okay,” Coughlin said. “I think the threat from the natives has passed, but we’ll leave someone on guard anyway, just in case. We’ll be staying here overnight. There’s no way we can safely get to the stargate through that snow fall. We’ll try again at daybreak. No fires, in case the natives spot the smoke and it draws them to us.”</p>
<p>Everyone nodded, although McKay frowned dispiritedly at the prospect of a cold night. “We’ll huddle for warmth, Dr McKay. A fire is just too risky. There’s still more than thirty of them, and only four of us, plus Rivers here, who is badly injured. We don’t want to draw their attention.”</p>
<p>“Fine,” said Rodney. “But what about Sheppard and Major Lorne? We can’t just leave them out there, overnight. Even if they made it to shore, they’ll be freezing and injured! We need to get to Atlantis, get help.”</p>
<p>Teyla sat down next to Rodney and put her hand on his arm. “Rodney, we cannot help them if we are lost and frozen ourselves. The best chance they have is for us to shelter here through the night and move out at dawn. Hopefully by morning we will be able to quickly find our way to the ‘gate and seek help for the Colonel and the Major.” She gazed at him, willing him to understand.</p>
<p>Rodney nodded dejectedly, and Teyla smiled supportively at him. </p>
<p>That settled, Reed moved over to the entrance and settled himself in to watch, and Rodney and Teyla made what little preparations they could for the night. Coughlin took the opportunity to try his radio, to see if either the Colonel or the Major were receiving. But he had no success, just static meeting his hails. </p>
<p>Fifteen minutes later, Reed suddenly signalled for silence, and drew his P-90 forward, holding it at the ready. Coughlin and Teyla crept close, carefully watching where they trod to avoid any inadvertent noises from rocks crunching under their feet.  </p>
<p>And then Ronon strode into view, unhesitatingly leaving the main track they’d made and taking the few steps off the path towards their cave. Teyla sighed in relief at seeing him, but although she smiled, it was muted, realising he was alone. They all moved silently aside to let Ronon in.</p>
<p>“Natives have given up,” he said, as Teyla welcomed him with the Athosian embrace. </p>
<p>“Was there any sign of Sheppard?” Rodney asked. “And Lorne,” he added, a touch sheepishly, glancing at Lorne’s team members in embarrassment.</p>
<p>“Nope,” Ronon said, shaking his head. “I tracked over a mile downstream, nothing. There’s another narrow part of the river, but I couldn’t get past. Cliffs were too high. Came back, thought you might need help.”</p>
<p>“Thanks, Ronon,” Coughlin said. “We’re going to hole up here for the night, head for the ‘gate in the morning.”</p>
<p>Ronon nodded. “Nasty out there,” he said, agreeing with the decision.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>----- -----</p>
</div><p>
The shock, as Evan hit the water, was intense. The river was frigidly cold, swirling and wet, rushing him along, tossing him here and there, bashing him into unseen rocks, scraping him across the rapids as it flung him into the narrow gap between the cliffs and splurted him out the other side. </p>
<p>Desperately trying to swallow less of the river, he turned his head to the side. All he could see was water and the snow-dark sky. The river kept rushing him forward, but Evan’s mind was starting to clear from the initial shock. The Colonel had been behind him on the log before they’d both fallen in. Where was he now? Was he injured, unconscious? There was no way to control the journey, but Evan tried to angle himself a little to the right. The turbulent water continued to swirl him along willy-nilly, but eventually his flailing hand bumped against soft material. Sheppard! </p>
<p>Evan’s freezing cold fingers clung as best they could. Slowly, carefully, he manoeuvred his hand down Sheppard’s arm until he reached his hand. They clung together as the river did its best to drown them, knocking their legs against submerged rocks, bashing their hips or arms against a higher one. Another set of cliffs, another set of rapids, all bumps and bruises, and then they were through, flushed out onto the other side. The river suddenly widened, a quirk of nature pulling the cliffs back sharply to either side. </p>
<p>The river calmed almost immediately, the headlong rush slowing, the number of rocks to be bounced off reducing, and small beaches began to appear intermittently along the right-hand bank. As one, John and Evan turned towards that side, and, letting their hands part, started to swim. That’s when Evan realised that the Colonel wasn’t really up to swimming. He was breathing badly and unable to properly use one of his arms. Evan helped him to shore.</p>
<p>They were both soaked to the skin, shivering and faintly blue around the lips. They knelt on the sandy shore and breathed and coughed up water. After a couple of minutes, Evan could feel himself starting to literally freeze stiff, and he pulled himself up to standing, then reached out and dragged the Colonel up as well. “We have to keep moving, Sir, or we’re not going to make it,” he rasped out. He knew their arctic coats were waterproof, but it didn’t matter much if you actually ended up submerged in water – it just went under and in. At least the outside of their jackets were still dry and hopefully would keep out some of the cold.</p>
<p>John nodded, his hand on his side as if holding his rib cage together. </p>
<p>“Are you injured, Sir?” Evan asked.</p>
<p>John shook his head, his customary habit of denying all injury coming to the fore. “They hit me with something… maybe a cudgel. That’s why I fell.” He paused to breath again, his breath rasping uncomfortably. “We need shelter, Major,” he gasped and started to walk unsteadily up the beach. </p>
<p>There was a small path opening out onto the beach and they headed for it. The snow wasn’t quite as bad here as it had been further up the river, and they were able to walk reasonably well. The path led up and, as they climbed, the snow started to deepen. Both of them were shivering badly, and John’s breathing was laboured with the exertion. After a while he stopped. “Look,” he gasped, “we’re climbing a mountain, and mountains have caves.” He pointed with his hand, “There’s a lot of rock over there, let’s try and head that way.” </p>
<p>They left the path and trudged across the terrain, hoping to find a cave. They were both struggling now, their breath coming out in white clouds, their limbs protesting the movement. It started to snow and eventually, John reached out and took Evan’s hand in his, ensuring they wouldn’t lose each other in the gloom, keeping at least one body part warm and functional. </p>
<p>Evan felt his mood lift slightly as they continued to climb – it was working, feeling was returning to his hand. It hurt, but it also felt really good to know that this one part of himself was warming back up. He squeezed the Colonel’s hand, surprising himself, but the Colonel just squeezed back, as if it were perfectly unremarkable to be walking along holding hands with his XO, squeezing each other’s hand for comfort.</p>
<p>They reached the rocky area and scanned around with their eyes, and yes, up ahead there was a darker area, an opening, hopefully a cave. John let go of Lorne’s hand to point, then took a step forward and immediately disappeared. Evan gazed in horror at the hole that had appeared, right where the Colonel had stepped. Lunging forward and looking down, he could see that Sheppard had fallen through a bush that had been covered in snow, but was actually on the side of a ravine. They hadn’t even realised they weren’t on a stable plateau. The Colonel wasn’t that far down, lying on a rocky ledge only about two and a half metres away, but he was lying very still, and Evan could see crimson showing on the pure white snow. Sheppard was injured.</p>
<p>Lorne thought for a moment, then slowly sat on his backside and slid down to join John. His descent released a flurry of snow, but even though it fell on John’s face, he did not twitch or move at all. Evan’s heart rose to his mouth. What if the fall had killed him? He immediately dropped to the Colonel’s side, and tried to find a heartbeat, but his fingers, even the ones Sheppard had been holding, were too cold to feel anything. Leaning down, he could see the slightest puff of breath being released and he sat back on his haunches. </p>
<p>He was going to have to get the Colonel to that cave, strip them both off and get them warm. He felt around under Sheppard’s head, where the blood had stained the snow, and felt the wound. A rock had hit the side of Sheppard’s skull, just above his ear. There wasn’t a big indent or anything, just a smallish wound by the feel.</p>
<p>Right. Evan considered the predicament, but he didn’t have much time. They were both nearly frozen, and Sheppard was now unconscious. Reaching into his tac vest, he drew out some rope, strung it around the Colonel’s chest and under his armpits, and tied a bowline knot. It wasn’t his best, or his quickest ever, knot, but his numb fingers still managed to achieve it, and Evan smiled grimly.  </p>
<p>Then he jumped and heaved and managed to climb his way back out of the hole, the rope clutched tightly in his hand. Once back up on ground level, Evan lay on his belly and started to pull on the rope. Sheppard’s body began to lift and Evan heaved and heaved and gasped and cried out with the effort, but eventually, the Colonel’s head appeared through the hole, and Evan started to crawl backwards, still pulling, and the Colonel’s body started to rise up and out. Once he felt enough was through so that Sheppard wouldn’t just slide back in if he moved, Evan stood, keeping tension on the rope, and made his way closer, getting his freezing cold hands under Sheppard’s armpits and heaving. </p>
<p>He stood there gasping, Sheppard’s whole body now out of the hole and on firm ground. Evan glanced behind him and up a little to where the cave was. It was about ten metres away, and so he started to walk backwards, dragging the Colonel’s body along with him. It was a torturous journey, frozen, exhausted, battered and bruised from the rocks in the river, muscles screaming with the effort he was having to put forth, Evan dragged his CO one foot at a time, until they finally reached the cave mouth. </p>
<p><em>‘Hope no-one lives in there,’</em> he thought as he slowly backed his way into the cave, the Colonel’s body obediently following him.</p>
<p>There were no angry growls and raised voices, so he assumed they were okay, and eventually he’d hauled the Colonel all the way to the back of the cave, as far from the freezing cold outside as he could manage. He stood panting for a moment, then, as quickly as his hands would let him, he fished out his torch and switched it on, standing it up to give them some light. Inside the cave it was a bit warmer than outside had been, and the nasty frigid wind was gone as well. The cave was nicely proportioned, and would certainly do as a safe haven. </p>
<p>Evan turned back to the main problem now, getting them both warm. The Colonel’s breathing was laboured, his lips a nasty blue-tinge, and Evan was very, very scared he was not going to make it.</p>
<p>Working as quickly as he could, Evan retrieved both of his emergency blankets from his tac vest, stripped the Colonel’s tac vest, soggy arctic jacket and BDU pants and top off, and wrapped him up in one of them. The Colonel didn’t have much heat to spare, and the blankets worked by radiating your own heat back to you, but it was the best he could do right now.</p>
<p>He grabbed a roll of duct tape from his tac vest, then fished through Sheppard’s for another emergency blanket so he had two, and began to make a double sleeping bag, taping the edges of the blankets together. It would be a snug fit for the two of them, but then again, snug was probably good, because they were both freezing and they needed to get warm, really quickly.</p>
<p>He laid the bag down in the corner of the cave furthest from the open front, where the snow was still falling. With the shitty luck they’d been having, the front of the cave would probably be snowed closed by morning.</p>
<p>Their clothes were saturated, and Evan knew the next step was to strip them both completely naked. Skin on skin generated so much more warmth than hugging through wet clothing. Despite the desperation of their situation, Lorne’s mind immediately conjured up an image of his CO’s warm and malleable skin on his, and he closed his eyes for a moment, willing the image away. <em>“Not now!”</em> he thought. <em>“This is an emergency situation, not a candle lit dinner!”</em> He wondered if he were becoming delirious with the cold, it was certainly a possibility.</p>
<p>He crossed to the Colonel and shook his shoulder, calling to him to wake. There was a slight response.</p>
<p>“Come on Sir, open your eyes for me,” Lorne cajoled. “Just a bit. I just need you awake enough to get into the sleeping bag, Sir.” It wasn’t going to be easy to get the Colonel inside if he remained unconscious. If he could rouse a little and help, that would be best.</p>
<p>Sheppard moaned, and Lorne started to unwind the emergency blanket a little, pulling off his boots, socks and boxers. He thought for a moment, but realised he couldn’t leave the clothes out here, they’d need to be in the sleeping bag with them, to have any chance at drying out. He rung everything out as best he could, including the arctic jacket and, shoving it to the bottom of the bag, he laid out the BDU pants, top and boxers as a mattress of sorts, and to provide a layer of insulation from the floor, then pulled off the Colonel’s t-shirt, and added it to the pile. </p>
<p>Sheppard had continued with his moaning as Lorne twisted him this way and that to get his clothes off, and when Lorne exhorted him to wake, he actually moved his limbs a little. </p>
<p>“That’s it, Sir, I need you to get into this sleeping bag,” Evan encouraged, and he helped the Colonel out of the emergency blanket he was wrapped in, and into the double bag he’d created. It was exhausting, as the Colonel wasn’t able to do much at all, but it was easier than if he’d been still unconscious. </p>
<p>“Well done, Sir,” Lorne said, panting from the exertion. Then he stripped his own clothes off as quickly as he could, placing his jacket at the bottom of the bag with Sheppard’s, and laid his other clothes down for padding. Then, grabbing his radio and the duct tape, he slid awkwardly inside the sleeping bag. </p>
<p>There wasn’t a lot of room, but they did both fit. Lorne contorted himself this way and that for a while, taping up the opening until only a small air hole remained. </p>
<p>“Phew!” he said. “Glad that’s done.”</p>
<p>Sheppard said nothing, clearly gone again.</p>
<p>Lorne had lost his earwig radio in the fall from the bridge, but he had his hand-held, so now he turned it on and sent a call out into the ether, hoping one of the Lanteans would respond, but there was nothing. In case they were receiving, even if not able to respond, he described the Colonel’s head wound and current condition, but did not give the location of the cave – or even say they were in a cave. He didn’t know who else might be listening in, and had no wish to be found, trussed up inside the sleeping bag as they were. The natives didn’t seem advanced enough to have radio, but as they hadn’t seen the village, Lorne had no way to know for sure, and he wasn’t willing to risk it. </p>
<p>He settled himself on his side, and snuggled up against Sheppard. The Colonel was very cold to the touch, and wasn’t shivering at all, which at least Lorne <em>was</em>. Not shivering was very dangerous, and Evan knew he had to raise his CO’s temperature as quickly as possible. He inched closer, until his entire front was plastered against Sheppard’s back, their legs intertwined, feet touching. His arms wrapped around Sheppard, holding him close, holding him tight, their hands interlocked. He lay like that for well over an hour, and slowly the temperature inside the emergency blanket sleeping bag rose. Eventually the Colonel started to shiver, very slowly at first, just a tremble here, a tremble there, but soon he was shivering all over and Lorne huffed out a very relieved sigh. He did not want to lose Sheppard, here, like this, and shivering was a very good sign. </p>
<p>Evan lay, holding Sheppard in his arms for a long while, and eventually the Colonel’s shivering eased, slowed, and finally stopped. He was warm. Evan breathed out a huge sigh of relief. He had done it. He’d managed to get the Colonel to safety, had warmed him, he was okay, he was going to survive. Hopefully rescue would come soon – he spared a thought for the rest of his people, hoping they had made it safely to the ‘gate and were already scrambling a team of marines to come and get them.</p>
<p>Realising there was nothing more he could do, and suddenly feeling the depths of his own exhaustion, he relaxed, knowing sleep would come quickly.</p>
<p>But it didn’t. Their position had been desperate – running from the natives, the freezing cold water, the long hike on exhausted muscles, Sheppard’s sudden fall and head injury, the need to get warm without lighting a fire and giving away their position to the enemy – all of it had flooded Lorne with adrenalin, and he just couldn’t calm his mind. He was aware that either one of them could have died today, or both of them, even. And now that the imminent danger had passed, with both he and the Colonel finally warm and safe, he was acutely aware that he was unexpectedly exactly where he’d been longing to be for two long years – wrapped around a naked John Sheppard. </p>
<p>He’d spent two years fantasising about this man, imagining all sorts of different scenarios of himself and Sheppard in compromising positions as he jerked off in his shower every morning. He’d managed quite successfully to separate his private life from his public life, and had never given away his interest. Then again, a great many years in the homophobic American military had given him ample experience at hiding his predilection for male company.</p>
<p>And now here he was, snuggled up with the object of his desire, with his cock literally resting against the man’s arse crack, alone and with no-one to interrupt them, and he couldn’t do a thing about it! Clearly the universe hated him! Or maybe he was being punished for some cosmic mistake he’d made in another life. </p>
<p>He felt Sheppard stir, his breathing changing as he roused. “Whr ‘m I?” he mumbled.</p>
<p>“You’re safe, Sir,” Lorne said. “You’re here with me, Major Lorne. We’re in a cave, in a sleeping bag for warmth.”</p>
<p>“Wht hap’nd?”</p>
<p>“We fell into a river and got drenched, and then you fell down a hill and hit your head pretty badly, Sir.”</p>
<p>“Sid’ hrts.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, you’ve got some really nasty bruising and maybe some cracked ribs there. Do you want to roll over, have the injured side up?”</p>
<p>“Mm,” and Sheppard was moving. Bucking and groaning as he rolled over in the confined space, the emergency blanket making crinkly noises as he moved.</p>
<p>He settled onto his other side, facing Evan, and after a few moments, said, “Bttr.”</p>
<p>“That’s good, Sir. But now the wound on your head is on the ground. Perhaps you’d better use my shoulder as a pillow?” Evan wasn’t sure that was a good idea for his overactive libido, but it was definitely the best thing for the Colonel’s head, so he wriggled a bit himself, until he was lying close to Sheppard’s front, his CO’s head resting on his shoulder.</p>
<p>“Is this okay, Sir?” he asked, a little breathless. He could feel the Colonel’s chest hair brushing lightly against his skin and the sensory overload was derailing his thoughts a little. Maybe he really was delirious!</p>
<p>“Bttr,” Sheppard mumbled. Then snuggled his head in closer, moving his arm to wrap it around Lorne’s waist, pulling him closer. Evan felt him relax against him, falling back to sleep.</p>
<p>Evan lay there, very still, his skin supersensitive from neck to knee from the effect of having Sheppard so close. His body had reacted in typical male fashion, and he was just fortunate that the Colonel was too out of it to have noticed. He breathed very slowly and steadily in and out, willing his erection away. Eventually, he slept.</p>
<p>Evan came awake a couple of hours later. He opened his eyes but, of course, it was pitch dark. He could feel a body against his, and memory flooded back. They were safe, they were warm, they had made it. He sighed in relief, knowing that it was all going to be okay. And then he felt it, a kiss on his shoulder, a hand moving on his back in a steady, circular motion, a hardness pushing up against his belly. He felt his erection bursting into life at the realisation that Sheppard was aroused and acting on it. Clearly, in his mentally befuddled state, the Colonel had woken enough to discover a warm body nearby, and had reached the logical conclusion that it was a willing female in his bed. Only it wasn’t! Well, the willing was true enough, but the female was definitely not a criterion Lorne could meet.</p>
<p>He tried to pull back, but Sheppard’s arm was strong and pulling him closer, and the lips had given up on his shoulder and had moved up to nuzzle his neck, making their way up behind his ear. A tongue flicked out and laved just behind his ear, where Evan was most sensitive. He gasped, and his cock decided that was all the permission it needed to come to full mast.</p>
<p>“Colonel,” he whispered, his voice shaky. “Sir, it’s Major Lorne, you need to stop.”</p>
<p>But Sheppard didn’t stop. Lorne didn’t think he was actually awake. Perhaps functioning on autopilot in a semi-conscious state.</p>
<p>“Please, Sir,” he gasped again as the Colonel sucked on his pulse point, then Sheppard’s mouth found his own. <em>‘Oh my God!’</em> Evan thought, before thought fled and he was lost in the taste and feel of his CO’s mouth, the swirl of tongues, the heat and slide and drag of two mouths entwining.</p>
<p>Further down, Lorne’s cock was leaking pre-cum, desperate for some friction, and he could feel Sheppard’s cock pushing into his stomach, the Colonel starting to rock back and forth. The sensations were overwhelming, and almost in a dream, Evan reached down between them, enclosing his hand around both rock-hard cocks. The silky-smooth feel of Sheppard’s rigid shaft lying against his own was enough to make him shudder, and he started to stroke up and down, his hand action mimicking that of their tongues.</p>
<p>The warmth was spreading through his whole body now, and the sensations were building as his hand started to speed up, his cock demanding more and more friction. Within a few minutes, sparks of electricity were running up and down his spine, and he felt his balls draw up and then his cock was pulsing, cum spurting out over their stomachs, Sheppard’s cock joining in. </p>
<p>Sheppard withdrew his tongue from Lorne’s mouth and kissed him gently once or twice on the lips, then dropped his head back to his shoulder, and snuggled in close. Another kiss, very gentle, on his neck, and the Colonel’s breathing evened out.</p>
<p>Lorne lay in a stupor for several minutes, basking in the afterglow. But then reason started to reassert itself, and his first thought was <em>‘Fuck!’</em> Then he huffed out a laugh, because that was pretty much the problem, right there.</p>
<p>He could feel the cum drying on his belly, sticky and uncomfortable, but there really wasn’t anything much he could do at this point. The logistics of the situation suggested that perhaps he should try and get out of the sleeping bag, grab some wet wipes from his tac vest, and clean them both up. But it was still the middle of the night and it would be freakin’ cold out there in the cave. Added to which he’d disturb the Colonel who was sleeping again, his head nestled on Evan’s shoulder. Lorne set the logistics aside to be dealt with in the morning.</p>
<p>So that just left the emotional side… <em>‘Jesus’</em> he thought. <em>‘I cannot believe that just happened.’</em> But it had. He’d held his CO’s cock in his hand, and had stroked it until the Colonel had come… all over him. He felt his body flush in memory, but his mind was running relentlessly down the track of DADT.</p>
<p>Lorne lay there, wondering just exactly what Fort Leavenworth was like, and what being court-martialled actually entailed. After a while, he gave up on that unproductive line of thinking. What had happened, had happened. Worrying about it, overthinking it, wasn’t going to change it, or solve the problems that had now arisen. So instead, he snuggled in closer to Sheppard, laying his cheek against the top of the Colonel’s head, and, given this had been his one and only chance to have a real sexual interlude with Sheppard, he let the memories of what they had done together wash joyfully through his mind. After a while, he drifted back off to sleep, a smile on his face.</p>
<p>Several hours later, Lorne’s radio started squawking at him, pulling him from sleep.</p>
<p>“Colonel Sheppard, Major Lorne, do you receive?” came the voice again.</p>
<p>“Yes, yes,” he said, sleep befuddled and not quite fully together.</p>
<p>“This is Sergeant Stackhouse, Sir. The other members of your team and the Colonel’s team returned through the Stargate about fifteen minutes ago. They said that you were separated and that they believe the Colonel to be injured. What is your situation?”</p>
<p>Lorne had woken up fully now, and was quickly untaping the entry hole to the sleeping bag, desperate to get himself and Sheppard cleaned up before rescue arrived. Thankfully, the Colonel was still sleeping, blissfully unaware that rescue, and exposure, were imminent.</p>
<p>“The Colonel has sustained a head injury,” he reported. “He also has damage to his side, possibly cracked ribs, or maybe just very severe bruising.”</p>
<p>“Understood. What is your location?” Stackhouse asked.</p>
<p>“Um, we’re in a cave, up above the river on the side away from the stargate. It’s about half-way up a mountain.” He glanced up at the opening of the cave to realise that half the entrance was indeed covered with snow, as he had predicted. “The snow is very deep up here – there’s three foot covering the entrance of our cave at the moment.”</p>
<p>“Understood. Do you believe that a ‘jumper would be able to land where you are, Sir?”</p>
<p>“Possibly. I don’t know. It was snowing when I found the cave, and I wasn’t really concentrating too much on the terrain. But we’re a long way from the ‘gate. It’ll take you forever to hike here. Perhaps best to try the ‘jumper first. Although land really carefully because there’s a cliff drop-off very close by the cave,” he added, remembering Sheppard’s sudden disappearance the day before.</p>
<p>“Understood. We’ll be on our way in a few minutes, Sir.”</p>
<p>“Acknowledged,” and Lorne tapped the radio off. He’d found the wet wipes while the conversation had been going, and had managed to wipe his hand clean and then deal with some of the mess on his stomach. He was shivering all over now, and he reached into the sleeping bag and pulled out his clothes, checking them over for tell-tale stains that would indicate what they’d done. But there were none. Hopefully, he and Sheppard had been pressed so closely together, that nothing had dripped down onto the clothes. </p>
<p>He dressed in record time, then reached into the sleeping bag, and used a second wet wipe to clean the Colonel’s stomach up, a lot more carefully than he’d done his own. Then he started to shake him awake. The sleeping bag smelled of cum, and he needed to get the Colonel out and the emergency blankets rolled up and hidden in his tac vest before the ‘jumper arrived.</p>
<p>“Colonel?” he said, shaking him gently. “Colonel Sheppard, Sir, I need you to wake up. Rescue is nearly here, but we need to get you dressed.”</p>
<p>The Colonel groaned and opened his eyes, but Lorne was pleased to see there was more alertness there now. “Majr?”</p>
<p>“Yes, Sir,” Evan smiled broadly at him. “We need to get you dressed for the cold, Sir, before the ‘jumper arrives. Can you roll off your clothes so I can get them for you?”</p>
<p>Sheppard obliging rolled over onto the ground on Lorne’s side of the sleeping bag, and Evan quickly pulled the clothes out, surreptitiously checking them for cum stains. Nothing! Thank goodness.</p>
<p>He leant forward and helped Sheppard to sit up, then helped him to dress his top half. That done, he got him out of the sleeping bag and helped him to dress his bottom half. Leaving the Colonel wrestling drunkenly with his socks, Lorne quickly ripped the tape off the edges of the emergency blankets, dividing them back into two, and rolled them up as tightly as he could, thrusting them into a pocket of his tac vest.</p>
<p>Huffing out a breath of relief, he turned back to help Sheppard on with his boots, then, wrapping the original emergency blanket around him, he helped him to lie back down on his good side, his tac vest acting as a pillow.</p>
<p>Evan made his way to the front of the cave and peered out. The world was white from horizon to horizon, and he really hoped their life signs were showing up on the jumper’s HUD, otherwise there was no way they’d ever be found. He’d taken a moment to find the second emergency blanket in Sheppard’s tac vest before giving it to the Colonel as a pillow, and now he opened it and wrapped it around himself, then sat near the entrance to the cave where he had a good view, and settled in to wait for rescue to arrive.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>----- -----</p>
</div>Evan had known the Colonel would need to stay in the infirmary, what with the head wound, the injury to his back and side, the hypothermia and the fact that he’d been unconscious for a while. But he’d been hoping that Carson would let <em>him</em> go with just a cursory check over.<p>Unfortunately, Carson was not in a cursory mood, and had muttered uncomfortable things about exposure and hypothermia and wanting to be sure he was fully hydrated and held his body temperature through the night. There was also the matter of all the bruises and bumps that he’d picked up when he’d been in the water. No, Carson wasn’t planning to let him go.</p>
<p>So here he was at 3am, stuck in the infirmary, lying on his side on a gurney next to the Colonel. They were a lot further apart than last night…. three or four metres further apart in fact, but Lorne’s brain had always been particularly good at storing mental images and sensory memories, and he was having a lot of difficulty setting aside the realities of what he had shared with his CO in that cave.  </p>
<p>Gazing at Sheppard’s face, visible in the dim lighting, Lorne’s mind obligingly brought forward the memories of Sheppard’s tongue wrapping sensuously around his own, sucking and thrusting into his mouth, the nibbles, the bites, the pressure, the heat. Lorne closed his eyes as his cock started to fill, the need to climb out of his bed and into Sheppard’s almost too much to be pushed aside. He slumped onto his back, and stared up at the roof. He needed to get over this, to forget… <em>‘Oh, who am I kidding?’</em> he scoffed at himself, <em>‘I am never going to forget that.’</em> And he didn’t want to, he really didn’t want to forget. But he needed to find some way to be okay interacting with the Colonel without giving himself away. </p>
<p>He’d managed it before. He’d managed it for two long years of sexual fantasies <em>‘Yeah, in the privacy of my own shower,’</em> his disgruntled mind thought, <em>‘with no encouragement and nothing to suggest that there was any chance of anything more than my own right hand.’</em> But now he knew what Sheppard’s mouth tasted like, how it felt to have Sheppard’s tongue sliding against his own, what sensations it had provoked through his whole body. Lorne huffed and rolled onto his far side, deliberately turning his back to the Colonel.</p>
<p><em>‘If only…’</em> But Lorne stopped that line of thought straight away, because actually, despite his current difficulties, he was never going to wish away what they’d shared. Even though the Colonel had been only half-aware and had no doubt thought Lorne was some lush female from his past, it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter to Evan because <em>he’d</em> been with Sheppard, even if Sheppard had been with someone else.</p>
<p>He huffed over onto his back again, then thought, <em>‘This is ridiculous. I can’t sleep here.’</em> Reaching up, he pressed the call bell for the night nurse, and as she approached, he sat up.</p>
<p>“Hey, Sharon,” he said, “Look, I’m feeling fine but I’m very tired and I just can’t get to sleep here. Can I please go sleep in my own bed? I promise I’ll come straight back in the morning.” He smiled his most winsome smile, and Sharon smiled back at him.</p>
<p>“Let’s have a look,” she said. “I know Dr Beckett wanted to be sure that you were holding your temperature.” She pulled out a thermometer and shoved it into his ear. When it beeped she nodded, then lifted his wrist and counted his pulse for 20 seconds. She made some notes in his file, then looked at the IV bag, seeing that it was almost all empty.</p>
<p>“All right, Major,” she said. “I’m going to let you go, but I want you to promise that you’ll go straight to your room, sleep, and return here in the morning, and nothing more.” She eyeballed him. Lorne knew he wasn’t the worst offender – that would be the man sleeping in the next bed – but he had, on occasion, disregarded medical advice.</p>
<p>“I give you my solemn word that I will go from here to my bed, and back again in the morning, and nothing else,” he said, smiling cheekily at her.</p>
<p>She nodded, smiling back. Everyone liked Major Lorne, he had a very congenial personality. “Very well then, Major.” She quickly disconnected the IV, but didn’t remove the trappings from his hand. “Dr Beckett can remove that in the morning, if he’s satisfied with you,” she said, knowing leaving it in would ensure that Lorne would, indeed, come back to the infirmary.</p>
<p>“Thanks, Sharon,” Evan said, slipping out of the bed. And he headed out the door, not even waiting to call someone to bring him some clothes. At this time of night, there was no-one around to see the XO moving through the halls in hospital scrubs, and at least it wasn’t the hospital gown-of-doom that left nothing to the imagination.</p>
<p>Back in his room, Evan beelined for the bed, and snuggled down under the covers. He was very tired, but the images that had been assailing him in the infirmary wouldn’t go away, and eventually he gave up, reached into his bedside drawer for some lube, and liberally coated his half-hard cock. Then he settled himself comfortably and gave in to the sensations washing through his body, re-running the mental video from last night, imagining Sheppard’s cock was trapped against his own, his hand holding them both together, stroking them both, bringing them both to completion. He started to shudder and then he was coming, his sight whiting out momentarily. Moments later, he was asleep.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>----- -----</p>
</div>It was two days before John woke enough to actually notice his surroundings. The first thing he recognised was the smell – he was in the infirmary on Atlantis. That felt good, that felt safe, and his initial tense concern melted away. The next thing he recognised was the clacking noise nearby – that meant Rodney was here, typing away on his tablet. The third thing he noticed was that he was hungry, quite hungry in fact, and he wondered how long he’d been lying here.<p>Moving his hand slightly, he made a sound, and instantly the clacking stopped.</p>
<p>“Is that you, Sheppard? Are you finally waking up? You’ve been asleep for two days, you’d think that would be long enough for anyone! I mean truly, all you had was a few bumps and bruises…”</p>
<p>Sheppard cracked his eyes open and could see McKay was leaning over him. He tried to smile, but didn’t think it had worked very well.  </p>
<p>Rodney jolted back a bit, “So you <em>are</em> in there.” He turned his head and called out “Carson, Sleeping Beauty’s awake,” then turned back to Sheppard. “Are you thirsty? You’re probably thirsty. Here, have an ice chip,” and something cold and wet was slipped between John’s lips. He lay there, quietly sucking on his ice chip, and then, suddenly, Carson was there.</p>
<p>“Ah, lad, it’s good to see you back with us,” he said, his warm brogue washing over John and making him feel safe. “We were a mite worried. Let me just check out a few things,” and then a bright light was flashing in his eyes, and John was flinching, turning his head away.</p>
<p>“Sorry about that, Colonel, but I’m pleased to say that your eyes are responding well,” he smiled. “We’ll have you up and about in no time.”</p>
<p>He glanced over at one of the nurses and said, “Marie, could you please arrange a lunch tray for the Colonel?” Then turning back, he subjected John to ten minutes of checking bandages and poking and prodding and all sorts of medical fussing.</p>
<p>At the end of it, John was sitting up in the bed, his wounds tended, and his rolling table situated over the bed, ready for his meal to arrive.</p>
<p>Carson bustled away, and Rodney swooped back in, taking the chair and pulling it close to the bed again.</p>
<p>“So, what happened?” John asked, feeling fairly awake.</p>
<p>“What happened? What didn’t?! Well, do you remember the bit where the natives were completely stupid and decided to ask us to leave their ‘temple’ by beating Corporal….um… one of Major Lorne’s Corporals with a cudgel?”</p>
<p>Sheppard nodded. “I remember up until I fell into the river,” he said, his brow furrowing as he tried to remember past that point.</p>
<p>“Yes, well, that was a horrible moment, I can assure you. First, I had to cross that excuse for a bridge, and then you fell in and took Lorne with you! Ronon of course went straight after you, but he couldn’t find you and so he came back, but not before we’d trudged for miles and miles and miles through the snow, fighting off the natives and lugging Corporal… that Corporal along with us. And then we found a cave to shelter in for the night, and in the morning, we plowed through metres of snow to get to the Gate. It was no picnic, I can assure you! I was soaked to the skin, shivering with the cold, and that sadist Carson made us have a communal shower to warm us all up! I ask you?!!” </p>
<p>He broke off as John’s lunch tray arrived, and perused it carefully, deciding what he might try to steal. Looking up, he caught Sheppard’s eye on him, and flushed with embarrassment. </p>
<p>John laughed. “Take whatever you want, Rodney. I’m not feeling like much more than that chocolate pudding cup.” Rodney’s face fell, and John laughed again. “Go on, buddy. I’m good with the stew.”</p>
<p>They settled to eating and it was a few minutes before John asked, “So what happened to Lorne and me? I don’t remember being injured.”</p>
<p>“Well, you were, obviously. Lorne said you were both beaten about in the water, but the damage to your ribs is mostly from that native throwing the cudgel at you, and then you went and fell down a cliff and Lorne had to drag you up with a rope while you were unconscious, and then he got you into a cave halfway up the mountain, and you camped there for the night.”</p>
<p>“Huh!” Sheppard said, slowly processing this story. “Wouldn’t we have frozen? We would have been soaked through, and he couldn’t have made a fire for fear of bringing the enemy straight to us.”</p>
<p>“His report says he made a double sleeping bag out of two of the emergency blankets. Very ingenious actually, although don’t tell him I said so! He taped the sleeping bag closed so that all your shared body heat created a sort of sauna situation. I’ve tucked that bit of knowledge away for the next time this happens. You never know when the Pegasus Galaxy is going to strand you on a snow planet with no way off!”</p>
<p>John felt the oddest memory stirring in his mind as Rodney spoke. Warmth in the dark, a cocoon around him and another person, heat, arousal, a willing mouth, a hand around his cock…. Surely not. It must just have been a dream or a hallucination.  He shook the thoughts away and focussed back on his meal.</p>
<p>“Sheppard? Are you okay? You’re not okay, are you? What’s wrong? Are you dizzy, nauseous? Are you seeing three of me?” Rodney was starting to stand, his voice panicky.</p>
<p>“I’m fine, McKay. Sit down and finish your pudding cup,” John said. “Here, want my fries?”</p>
<p>That diverted Rodney’s attention and he happily munched his way through the basket of fries, not saying much of anything.</p>
<p>That suited John just fine. The weird memories had been very disconcerting. Were they memories? They felt like memories. But no, Lorne was straight. And <em>he’d</em> been injured. There’s no way the Major would have taken advantage of him being mostly unconscious. Would he? </p>
<p>Rodney glanced at him again, his hand frozen, a chip halfway to his mouth. “What’s with you? Your face looks weird!”</p>
<p>“Nothing, just… trying to remember… I don’t really remember any of what you’ve said.”</p>
<p>“Oh, well, you had a head injury. Could’ve lost untold numbers of brain cells. I’m sure I did. Remember when I was stuck in that sinking jumper and I had the head injury and I hallucinated Sam Carter to rescue me?” He sighed, a warm smile of remembrance on his face. “Did I ever mention she was nearly naked?” </p>
<p>“Only a dozen or so times,” John rolled his eyes. He remembered that rescue mission, and how scary it had been, thinking that McKay might have drowned. And of course, Rodney had had a head injury too, and had hallucinated someone that he had strong feelings for, imagining Carter nearly naked. Clearly that’s exactly what had happened to John on that planet. Lorne had been close, very close if they’d been in a joint sleeping bag, so naturally he had probably hallucinated them having sex. It wasn’t like he’d been fantasising about it for years or anything, no sirree, definitely not something a CO would ever do about his very male XO!</p>
<p>He pushed the tray away, suddenly feeling inexplicably weary. “Thanks, Rodney,” he said as his eyes closed, and within moments, he had fallen asleep.</p>
<p>Rodney looked disconcerted, but then remembered that it was normal for invalids to fall asleep that suddenly. He stood and lowered the head of the bed, making sure Sheppard was comfortable, before taking the last couple of fries and making his way back to this lab.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>----- -----</p>
</div>A week had passed since they’d been brought back from the snow planet, and John was finally being released from the infirmary. His head injury had healed and he had no more headaches. His ribs were much better, the bruising having subsided substantially. Carson had said none of them was actually cracked, just soft tissue damage, so that was a bonus. And he hadn’t lost any digits to frostbite or anything. Carson had praised Lorne’s actions in raising his body temperature.<p>He still didn’t have any clear memories of their time on the planet - well, once it had been just himself and Lorne fending for themselves. Major Lorne had been in a few times, but had brushed aside his thanks, and his questions about what had happened. He’d been very official, reporting what had happened in the past twenty-four hours, and checking for any input on the orders for the day, but then he’d left again – almost running out of the infirmary, one could say. </p>
<p>John had realised that his XO was behaving very oddly, and he wondered if his dim memories of an orgasm in the darkness had anything to do with it. The more he’d thought about it (and he <em>had</em> thought about it) the more he felt it hadn’t been a hallucination. It felt real in his mind, and this, coupled with Lorne’s unusually standoffish behaviour, made him wonder what exactly had happened on that damn planet. Had he assaulted his XO in the night? Is that why Lorne was avoiding him, sticking to purely operational matters? John knew he must have been really out of it, he guessed he might have acted inappropriately, especially given that it was Lorne in that sleeping bag with him, but the memories that kept wafting through his mind like insubstantial clouds were of a warm, supple mouth and a hand, not his, wrapped around his cock. It was all very confusing.</p>
<p>Carson came bustling over to his bedside, a smile on his face, and said, “Right then Colonel. Let’s get you all unhooked and you can be on your way. You’ve occupied this bed for long enough.”</p>
<p>John huffed out a laugh. “I’ll say. All I want is a nice hot meal in the mess, and then a long, luxurious sleep in my own bed. I can never sleep properly in here.”</p>
<p>“Aye, it is difficult to sleep with so many people around. And you’ll be feeling a new man in the morning, with a good 8 hours of rest under your belt.”  He finished up what he was doing and pointed to the pile of clothes Ronon had dropped off earlier.</p>
<p>“Get yourself changed then, and off you go.” He bustled away again, always more things needing his attention.</p>
<p>John slowly got changed and then made his way to the mess. It was dinner time, and he’d arranged to meet his team there. He could see them at their usual table as he entered, and he made his food selections and carried his tray across to join them.</p>
<p>“John,” Teyla cried out, seeing him. “It is very good to see you up and about.” She’d spent much of her week sitting beside him in the infirmary, and he knew that she would be pleased to see him finally released.</p>
<p>“It’s good to <em>be</em> up and about,” he said, smacking Rodney’s hand away as it crept towards his dessert cup.</p>
<p>Ronon’s hand reached over and scotched a couple of fries, and John made no effort to deflect him. </p>
<p>“Hey!” Rodney snarked. “That’s not fair. Why do you let him steal your food, but you hit me if I try?”</p>
<p>“Have you seen the size of him, McKay?” John asked, raising his eyebrows. “He can slap me to the mat in two seconds flat. I’d rather not provoke him in any way.”</p>
<p>Ronon turned a feral grin on Rodney, reached across and stole a fry from his bowl too. Rodney glared but made no retaliatory move.</p>
<p>“See?” John said. “You’re naturally following the same self-preservation instincts, even if you don’t know it.” He smirked at Rodney.</p>
<p>The conversation turned to other matters, and John sat with his team, enjoying this time with them, the normalcy of their bickering, the random topics that came up. It was warm, familiar, comforting.  </p>
<p>As he was finishing up his meal, he saw Lorne come in, glance over at his team’s table, then grab a sandwich and an apple and make his way straight back out. He frowned slightly. The Major hadn’t mentioned anything this morning that would have prevented him having a real, sit down, evening meal. Once again, John found himself wondering what was going on with his XO.</p>
<p>Eventually, Rodney stood and said he had to get back to the labs, and Teyla nodded. “I am joining the women’s poker game tonight, I must go as well,” she said, smiling warmly at John and pulling him in for an Athosian embrace.</p>
<p>“Wanna spar?” Ronon asked as Rodney and Teyla left.</p>
<p>John snorted his drink and took a few moments to recover. “I think Carson would probably kill me himself, if I sparred with you tonight, Chewie!” he said. </p>
<p>“Okay,” Ronon nodded, then stood, picking up his tray and said, “Gonna go spar with the marines.”</p>
<p>“You do that,” John said, standing and grabbing his own tray. “Try not to break any of them this time,” he continued, as they made their way past the bussing station and out of the door.</p>
<p>“No promises,” Ronon said, grinning evilly.</p>
<p>John laughed as Ronon walked away. At least the marines knew the risks when they sparred with him, and if they were willing to give it a go, who was he to get in the way of Ronon’s fun?</p>
<p>He stood in the transporter, his finger hovering over the spot for his quarters, but then he remembered Lorne’s speedy food run. Wondering what was up, he picked the Control Room instead, and was soon walking along to the office they shared. The door was closed, and he thought it open as he approached, but there was no-one inside. Pursing his lips in thought, he made his way to the control deck and approached Chuck.</p>
<p>“Anything happening tonight, Chuck?” he asked.</p>
<p>“It’s good to see you up and about again, Sir,” Chuck said. “And there’s nothing amiss anywhere, either in the city or off-world.” He suddenly put his hand on his head and said, “touch wood!”</p>
<p>John laughed. “All right then, I’ll head off to bed. Call me if there’s a problem though. I’m back on duty from tomorrow morning.”</p>
<p>“Sure, Sir. Sleep well,” Chuck said, and turned back to his consoles.</p>
<p>John frowned as he walked back to the transporter. Something wasn’t adding up and he was damned if he was going to go quietly off to bed without finding out what. He flicked the panel in the transporter to take him to the corridor where Lorne had his quarters, and within a few minutes he was standing outside his XO’s bedroom door, passing his hand over the doorbell sensor.</p>
<p>The door opened and he saw the Major sitting at his desk, a surprised expression on his face. Clearly it hadn’t occurred to Lorne that Sheppard might come looking for him.  </p>
<p>John took a couple of steps forward, into Lorne’s room, and the door swished closed behind him. “Major,” he said.</p>
<p>“Sir,” Lorne gulped a little as he said that, and Sheppard’s eyes narrowed.  He walked across to the desk, where he could see Lorne had his pencils out, his sketch book closed in front of him.</p>
<p>“Doing some drawing?” John asked, trying to work out why Lorne looked so freaked out.</p>
<p>“Yes, Sir,” Lorne said, and slid the sketch book into the middle of a pile of other books on the edge of the desk. “Can I help you, Sir?” he asked, looking warily at his CO.</p>
<p>“You didn’t let me thank you, while I was in the infirmary.” There was only the one chair in Lorne’s quarters, and Lorne was in it, so John stepped around him and sat on the end of the bed. “It seems you were instrumental in saving my life, getting me to shelter, keeping me warm… in effect saving my life.” Was Lorne blushing? He had certainly averted his eyes. </p>
<p>“It was nothing, Sir. I did what any one of us would have done in the same circumstances.” </p>
<p>“True. But it was you that did it, for me. So, I would like to say thank you,” Sheppard said, keeping his eyes pinned to Lorne’s face.</p>
<p>“You’re welcome, Sir,” Lorne said. He stood abruptly, intending to herd his CO back out the door but, in standing, he inadvertently knocked the pile of books off the desk, and they cascaded onto the floor. John and Evan both reached down at the same time to pick them up, but John was a shade quicker, and as he picked up the sketchbook, it fell open in his hands. He stared at the drawing…. it was him. It was his face, in profile, every line, every shadowed section showing the skill of the artist, but also showing how well the artist knew his subject. It could almost have been a photo for how accurate it was. </p>
<p>Evan had gasped as the sketch book fell open, reaching out his hand to grab it, but John pulled it away from him, sitting back on the end of the bed and flicking to the next page, and the next, and the next. They were all of him. He held the book in one hand and flicked the pages through with the thumb of his other hand. Every single drawing in the sketchbook was of him – sometimes in profile, sometimes full face. There wasn’t a single other person in this whole book.</p>
<p>Evan had fallen silent, standing bolt upright by the desk, his hands clenched by his sides, and John slowly lifted his eyes to him.  </p>
<p>“Was it a dream?” he asked, his voice hoarse.</p>
<p>Evan sat slowly down in his chair, his movements carefully controlled, as Fort Leavenworth loomed large in his mind.</p>
<p>“I… I have a memory… or maybe not,” John said. “Was it a dream? In the cave?”</p>
<p>Evan shook his head, dropping his face into his hands.</p>
<p>“Hey,” John said. “Talk to me.”</p>
<p>The Colonel didn’t actually sound angry, or enraged, or appalled, or disgusted, all of which Evan had expected. He slowly lowered his hands and looked Sheppard in the eye. </p>
<p>“It wasn’t a dream, Sir. I’m sorry. I should have stopped you… stopped… it. I… I didn’t, and I should have.” His shoulders slumped in sorrow at the fact that he was going to lose this, lose Atlantis, lose Sheppard, he’d be sent back to Earth, his job ripped away, he’d have to face a court martial…</p>
<p>“Stopped me? What do you mean? What actually happened?”</p>
<p>Evan just shook his head. “You were injured, Sir, you weren’t even fully conscious, I…. I should have stopped it. I’m so sorry.” He put his hands back up over his face, the feelings of devastation at what was about to happen flooding him, overwhelming him.</p>
<p>And then he felt hands on his knees. Moving his hands, opening his eyes, he saw the Colonel crouched in front of his chair, resting his hands lightly for balance.</p>
<p>“What happened, Major?” he asked. “I know you made a double sleeping bag from the emergency blankets. I know you taped us into it to keep us warm, keep us alive. Did I… did I do something? Did I force you? Jesus –” John rocked back on his heels and ran his hands through his hair. “Was it my fault? Did I make you?”</p>
<p>John stood and walked quickly across to the far side of the room, his hand rubbing the back of his neck in agitation.</p>
<p>“No! No!” Evan cried out. “It… It wasn’t like that. You… your side hurt so you had to turn towards me so that you had the sore side up, and that meant your head wound was down, so I gave you my shoulder as a pillow. And then… then I woke up and… and you were kissing my neck, Sir, and then you licked behind my ear, and then you kissed me, kissed me properly and then, then… It wasn’t your fault, Sir. You thought I was someone else, you were so out of it, you thought I was some woman, and I should have stopped you!” Evan stood abruptly, then sat back, then stood again, his hands opening and closing, unsure what to do with himself.</p>
<p>“Why didn’t you?” John asked. “Why didn’t you stop me?” </p>
<p>Evan sighed loudly, sitting abruptly and dropping his head into his hands. Here it was. The moment his career truly ended. DADT, fraternisation, non-consensual sexual congress, the whole shebang. He was about to have the whole fucking book thrown at him. He sighed again. “I didn’t want to,” he said. And closed his eyes. There. It was said. He’d confessed his feelings for a fellow officer, his commanding officer, a man. It was done.</p>
<p>There was silence in the room for a long time. Then, “I didn’t think you were some woman,” John said. He had moved closer. Evan hadn’t noticed, but John was now standing right in front of him. He lifted his head and looked up.</p>
<p>John sat down on the end of the bed. “If I was kissing you and… whatever, it was because it was <em>you</em>, not because I thought you were someone else.” He looked straight at Evan, not hiding from what he’d just said.</p>
<p>Evan shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. “What are you saying, Sir?” he eventually asked, when the silence had gone on for too long.</p>
<p>“I may have been out of it, Evan, but there isn’t a woman on this base that interests me. There isn’t a woman in this galaxy that interests me. If I was aroused, it was because I was lying in a cocoon with the man I’ve been in love with for years. The man I’ve fantasised about every fucking day since I met you. I didn’t think you were some woman, I thought you were you.”</p>
<p>John looked at Evan, and Evan looked back. Finally, John stood, and crossed the short distance to Evan’s chair. He crouched down again in front of him, resting his hands on Evan’s upper thighs this time. The warmth started to seep through the BDU’s to Evan’s skin and he half closed his eyes in longing, then realised what he was doing and forced them open again.</p>
<p>“You said that you didn’t stop me, because you didn’t want to,” John whispered. Then he reached up, and touched his lips to Evan’s. It was only brief, a moment of pressure, of warmth, and then gone again. </p>
<p>Evan looked down. John was gazing up at him, his expression open, no revulsion, no horror, just…. want… need… hope.</p>
<p>Slowly reaching out his hand, Evan stroked his fingers down John’s cheek, across his lips. John slipped his tongue out and licked the fingers as they went past. Evan stroked them back across John’s lips, and John sucked one in, tonguing it, his mouth warm and welcoming. And suddenly Evan was leaning down, pulling his finger free and pressing his own lips to John’s, pushing the chair back and dropping to the floor in front of him. </p>
<p>John moved his arms around Evan’s waist, pulling him close as he angled his head, getting a better lock on Evan’s lips. He licked along them, and when Evan opened his mouth, John dove in, his tongue darting and diving, mapping out the inside of Evan’s mouth, licking and sliding and entangling with Evan’s tongue. It was the hottest kiss Evan had ever had. </p>
<p>Evan’s hand was down John’s back, pulling his shirt out of his BDU’s and suddenly John wanted more skin.  He pulled away from the kiss, standing abruptly and pulling his BDU top off over his head, following it with his t-shirt. Evan had stood too, and John pulled him close, kissing him again, then pulling his shirts free of his BDU’s, letting go long enough to tug them off, over his head, and throw them on the ground somewhere, anywhere that wasn’t here. He moved straight back in, resuming the kiss, the thrust and parry that felt so amazingly good.</p>
<p>Evan pushed John backwards towards the bed, shuffling them to a horizontal surface, and then they were lying, John on his back, Evan on top, kissing and kissing and kissing. It was amazing, it was exhilarating, it was incredibly arousing.</p>
<p>John could feel Evan’s erection, firm and demanding, trapped in his BDUs, as John’s was. He suddenly pulled away from Evan’s mouth, desperate to feel all of Evan’s body. Unbuckling Evan’s belt, he started to undo his BDUs but Evan batted his hands away. “Quicker to do our own,” he gasped, as he sat up, bent forward and started to unlace his boots.  </p>
<p>John followed his example and within moments, they were both barefoot, standing by the bed, their mouths engaged again as their hands pushed their BDUs and boxers down, and off. Then they were back on the bed, John on his back, pushing himself further up the bed with his feet, Evan lying half on him, half to the side, his hands in John’s hair, holding him firmly in place as he plundered his mouth. </p>
<p>John groaned, long and deep as he felt Evan’s fingers moving down his neck, down his chest, circling his belly button. He let go of Evan’s mouth and sucked his way across to his ear, licking behind it as Evan had described. He felt the shudder go through the body lying against him, and kept licking, then started to nuzzle his way down, sucking and biting Evan’s neck, and down, until he reached his nipples. He sucked a nipple into his mouth, his hand playing with the other, and Evan put his hand on the back of John’s head pulling him in tighter, uncontrollably thrusting his hips up. He was fully hard, and starting to get desperate for some friction. </p>
<p>Not wanting it to end too soon though, Evan pushed John away and kissed and licked his own way down John’s body, until he reached his rigid erection. Putting his hands on John’s hips, to hold him still, Evan leaned down and licked a stripe up John’s cock from balls to tip, feeling John’s whole body shuddering, trying to lift from the bed. Evan held him down, and licked again, then he opened his mouth and slid it down over the head of John’s cock. </p>
<p>John groaned as Evan’s mouth closed over his cockhead. He was in heaven. Evan’s mouth was so warm, and his tongue was doing delicious things, swirling around the head, delving into the slit, God! He wasn’t going to last! Evan had let one of his hips go, moving that hand down to firmly grasp his shaft and was now starting to stroke him. But John wanted more, he wanted Evan. </p>
<p>“Turn around,” he gasped, pulling at Evan’s shoulders, and Evan got it. Pulling off John’s cock, he quickly reversed his position, so his cock was dangling over the top of John’s mouth, while his own mouth slid back down the length of John’s cock, swirling his tongue around, bobbing up and down, taking as much in as he could. </p>
<p>In return John had pulled Evan’s hips down, and had engulfed his cock, deep throating him with enthusiasm. The sensations were overwhelming, and within minutes Evan could feel his orgasm starting to build, his body beginning to tighten in anticipation, his balls drawing up, and then he was coming, and coming. He cried out, John’s cock still in his mouth, and suddenly there was a rush of cum flooding his mouth as John let himself go. Evan sucked and rocked for a few more seconds, gentling them both through the aftershocks, and then he lifted his mouth off John’s cock with a wet sucking sound, and pulled himself out of John’s mouth. Swivelling around, he dropped onto the bed next to John, panting and covered in sweat, a goofy grin stretching from ear to ear.</p>
<p>John rolled onto his side and pulled Evan close, kissing his cheek. “That was awesome,” he said, his voice gravelly with the aftereffects of arousal and the deep throating.</p>
<p>“Oh, yeah!” Evan said dreamily. </p>
<p>They lay in silence for a while, entwined, each basking in their afterglow, and then John said, “You know, this is breaking all sorts of rules.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, I know,” Evan sighed. “I’ve been picturing the inside of Fort Leavenworth ever since that damn planet.”</p>
<p>John pushed himself up onto his elbow, looking down at Evan in consternation. “Did you think I was going to report you? Kick you off Atlantis?” he asked incredulously.</p>
<p>“Well, I thought you were straight,” Evan responded. “And, so, yeah, pretty much. I figured my career was over and I was going to get booted.”</p>
<p>John shook his head. “You know, if we keep doing this, we’re both risking that. If Caldwell gets wind of it, we’re sunk.”</p>
<p>Evan nodded. “So, just this once then?” he asked, his tone regretful but accepting.</p>
<p>John sat up, and wrapped his arms around his bent knees. “Is that what you want?” he asked, his tone carefully neutral.</p>
<p>Evan lay on his back, looking at the ceiling. <em>‘Honesty or logic?’</em> he wondered. Honesty won. “No, it’s not what I want. What I want is you, in my bed, every single night, doing those same sorts of delectable things to me. But it’s not a logical choice, is it?”</p>
<p>“Depends if you think it’s worth the risk,” John said.</p>
<p>“Do you?” Evan asked, finally sitting up, turning to lean his back against the wall.</p>
<p>John dropped his head onto his knees and sat silent and still. Several minutes passed and then he lifted his head, and turned his body so he was facing Evan.</p>
<p>“I think the real question is whether this is just sex, or if it’s something more,” he said.</p>
<p>Evan nodded and averted his eyes. “Um, yeah, okay, that’s a good point.”</p>
<p>“Well?” asked John. “Be honest Evan, because if it’s just sex for you then it’s not worth the risk of exposure. You can get sex from anyone.”</p>
<p>Evan nodded slowly, then, turning his head away, whispered, “I think I fell in love with you the moment I saw you. It’s not just sex for me.”</p>
<p>John wriggled forward until he was right in Evan’s space. “Me neither,” he said, and, as Evan turned his face back, John reached closer and kissed him. A soft, gentle, closed mouth, kiss. </p>
<p>“So, we keep doing this then?” Evan said, his voice filled with wonder.</p>
<p>“Oh, yeah,” John responded, threading his hand behind Evan’s head and pulling his mouth closer. </p>
<p>“Round two?” he asked, and Lorne opened his mouth, welcoming John’s tongue in, starting the slow and steady dual that would lead to the ultimate glory.</p>
<p>THE END</p>
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